Coco survives second abduction to be reunited with family

Brian Donaldson • Published 26 Aug 2010 16:00 2 Comments

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Liana and Fabio with their dog Coco.

A lovable pet has brought despair and then jubilation for his family as he was stolen and then re-united, not once but twice in two years.

Coco, the miniature long-haired Chihuahua which is described as a beloved pet in the Ledwith household, was firstly picked up in the Asda car park by a person driving a southern-registered car two years ago and tracked to a house in Co. Cavan. He was recovered successfully.

But the latest theft of Coco created more intrigue and even more despair for the Ledwith family.

The latest incident began on August 4, when Gerry Ledwith, who manages the Golden Arrow cafe, was leaving the rear entrance with his vehicle and trailer. Coco was in the car and jumped out when the door was opened for a short time.

Coco made his way across to Eden Street Car Park where workmen were involved in creating a new traffic system. But a local woman, stopped in the queue at the traffic lights saw the occupant of a southern-registered people carrier in front, jump out of his vehicle, run across several traffic lanes and grab the dog and return to his vehicle before driving off. The vehicle headed off in the Sligo direction.

Gerry made a statement to police about the stolen dog and passed on information about the time and date in the hope that it could have been caught on CCTV. However Gerry has had to make repeated requests for CCTV footage to back up his claims in the hope of identifying the vehicle but without success to date.

Gerry says he has serious reservations about the CCTV system around the town which could leave serious shortcomings in terms of more urgent investigations such as a lost child or terrorist incident.

In the meantime, Gerry made several emotive radio appeals south of the Border and the story was picked up by a freelance journalist who published a story in the Sun newspaper on Tuesday last, August 17 when Gerry offered a £1,000 reward. As a result, a reader rang in saying he knew where the dog was. Gerry immediately got in contact with the Gardai and Coco was recovered by them in the backyard of a house in Tuam, Co. Galway later the same day.

“The Gardai went to the house and apprehended the dog matching the description I had given them from our appeal posters. They locked him up in a cell for a while until I went down,” he said.

Gerry, his wife, Liana and other family members travelled down to Tuam last Tuesday afternoon and were re-united with Coco in emotional scenes.

In the weeks between Coco being stolen and re-united, the Ledwith family travelled an estimated 2,000 miles throughout the Border counties in search of him. They followed particular leads and gained a valuable insight to where the dog might be held.

In addition, Gerry located all CCTV cameras between Enniskillen and the Border on public and private buildings which might help in identifying the vehicle involved in the theft. It was a camera located in the doorway of the O’Neill’s shop at Quay Lane that tracked the vehicle as it left the shopping centre on August 4 and before it had moved across the Wellington Road and stopping at the traffic lights at the Bus Station where a man was seen to lift Coco. Gerry now knew the description of the vehicle and this is currently being investigated by police forces on both sides of the Border.

The family went to such lengths to secure Coco because he is an extremely valuable family pet, particularly for Liana’s health and as a lovable pet for her and Gerry’s three sons, Mario(22), Rico(18) and five-year-old Fabio who live at Tobermore Park, Enniskillen.

Two years ago, Coco was seized by a woman at the Asda car park but the incident was spotted by an eagle-eyed traffic attendant and Coco was tracked to a home of a former Army officer in Co. Cavan.

Gerry says he wants to make people aware of the threat of thefts by people travelling from south of the Border.

Gerry offered a reward for the safe return of Coco and checks into this are ongoing.

This article appeared in Impartial Reporter 26 Aug 10

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anng3772
2 posts
Sep 2, 17:12
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So twice this dog has had to be rescued from traffic and taken to safety by strangers. Perhaps the owners should re-assess their care prorities

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anng3772
2 posts
Sep 2, 17:16
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Coco "stolen"? rescued from traffic twice more like!! Could have been run over or caused an accident.

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